Joyce Turner Keller

Airs Sunday, August 4 at 6 p.m. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Baton Rouge and New Orleans rank 2nd and 3rd among America’s largest metropolitan areas for the rate of new HIV diagnoses. For AIDS cases, Baton Rouge and New Orleans rank 1st and 5th. Nearly one-third of new cases for both diseases are among women, and more than three-quarters of new diagnoses are among blacks. So how is Louisiana confronting this health issue? Who is most at-risk? Do new testing methods exacerbate the problem? Is the solution just more funding and education? Where is the line drawn between individual responsibility and government intervention? Louisiana Public Square searches for answers to these issues and more.